Republican Revolution

The Republican Revolution occurred on 8 November 1994 when the Republican Party gained a majority of seats in the US House of Representatives during the 1994 elections. As a result of Republican Party politician Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America", the Republicans won 54 House seats from the the Democratic Party, having the support of a majority of Americans during their struggle against President Bill Clinton's healthcare proposals. In a historic election, Speaker of the House Tom Foley was the first Speaker to lose re-election since Galusha Grow in 1862, and the anti-New Deal "conservative coalition" was destroyed when the Republican Party swept across the American South, taking the seats of many conservative Boll Weevil Democrats. The Republicans picked up 19 seats in the former "Solid South", outnumbering Democrats for the first time since Reconstruction. In response to the election, the Blue Dog Democrats were formed in 1995, and many conservative Democrats in the south would defect to the Republicans. Newt Gingrich was elected Speaker of the House due to his success in leading the revolution.